[♪ theme music ♪] >> jennifer: i'm jennifer granholm. this is "the war room." the next four years starts right now. >> obama: we know that america thriver -- thrives when every person has pride in their work we are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty know she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else because she is an american, she is free and she is equal not just in the eyes of

god but also in our own. >> jennifer: if you are wondering how president obama is going to govern in his second term, those lines provide a really important clue. he was strong and he made this really important point; that he will not abandon the poor or the vulnerable or the marginalized. president obama said that social security and medicaid and medicare do not make us weak as a nation do not make us a nation of takers. those things they make us stronger as a nation. the president and we he said we cannot rest until all americans, all children, all people know matter their circumstances, all of us give meaning to that declaration of independence that we are all created equal.

that's what this speech was all about. it was about us. we the people who can determine the destiny of this country, rich and poor, black and white, gay and straight every single one of us. powerful, and empowering. joining us from washington to discuss which issues and the theme of today's inauguration by president obama is bill press, host of "full court press," author of machine: the lies, distortions and personal attacks on the president and who's behind them," and also in washington is christine pelosi, chair of the california democratic party women's caucus. welcome to both of you. >> hi, governor thank you. >> thank you. >> jennifer: so great to have both of you on. bill give me your reaction on the day. >> i was blown away by today the

whole pageantry is so awesome and it's so powerful in its simplicity. the ceremony is right to the point, you know, no royalty but great dig nanty and it reminds us who we all are as americans. people say we don't know what liberals stand for. i think this address in history will go down with lincoln's second inaugural address as -- it's the manifesto of what liberals stand for rooted in the constitution and as the president said we take that promise that all of us are created equal and we are dedicated in making that a reality for everybody. he spelled it out today, and i thought it was magnificent. and i left there feeling just great. >> jennifer: i totally agree.

christine what about you? >> i second everything that bill said. on martin luther king day as the saying goes rosa parks road to that martin luther king could march and barack obama could run, and so we would all fly. it was so magnificent for him to take the spirit of dr. king the civil rights movement, take the american story and including everybody in it from our newest americans to our oldest citizens, and when he said our social safety net does not make us weak you could hear the oh throughout the whole crowd. >> jennifer: where were you

christine? >> i was up to the president's right. we had a great view of the president and it was really really exciting. we were sitting right near artist john legend and cindy lopper both of who are very active in the community. we were all just cheering practically every line so we were a bit of a rowdy bunch but we were very very excited to be there, and looking out and seeing all of those people it was really really special and wonderful. >> jennifer: yeah, bill, i completely agree with everything, and the thing that struck me bill was that he really spoke clearly about income inequality you don't hear presidents often talking about poverty directly, and i

was really encouraged by that. >> yeah what a contrast if mitt romney had given that speech, right? mitt romney would have said it's good to be rich. you know? but again, there was a line there -- i looked at justice scalia, and he looked to be napping, and the president said that we must change with the times, right in applying this constitution, and of course that's counter to everything that justice scalia believes. but then the president spelled it out, and for him to talk about income inequality and rich and poor and gay and straight, no matter what color, what faith, and we kept coming back to we the people. what i loved was it was rooted

in the constitution. >> jennifer: right. which ironic given that scalia is such a textilist. >> yeah. >> jennifer: let's listen to this. >> obama: our journey is not complete until we find a way to welcome the striving hopeful immigrants who still look for the land of opportunity. >> jennifer: christine, so of course president got 71% of the hispanic vote. today he has a cuban poet, and a latino pastor give the benediction. he obviously know this is important.

christine from your perspective knowing what you know about congress, is immigration reform going to get done in this congress? >> if the senate goes first. i'll tell you this when my mother was sworn in and she talked about immigration reform. there was a standing ovation on the democratic side and no applause on the republican side. so i think that the republicans know that they have to do something on immigration. the key is going to be past citizenship. that's really the marker. if you are not for citizenship for latinos and asians and irish and everybody that is coming to america, then you are not for immigration reform. unless you have a path to citizenship, it is just a

conversation, and that action has to start in the senate. >> jennifer: that's going to be interesting. obviously we can talk about what other messages we can glean from this address. after we break we'll talk more about what the president wants to accomplish and then we'll talk about the how, which is unprecedented as well. we'll have a little bit of fun with presidential trivia as well. a lot to talk about on an historic history-making day.

>> all of us as vital as the one light we move through, the same light on blackboards are lessons for the day, equations to solve, history to question or atoms imagined the i have a dream we all keep dreaming or

the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won't explain the empty desks of 20 children marked absent today and forever. >> jennifer: um. powerful line. that's robert blanco reading a line from his poem "one today" at the second inauguration of president obama. those 20 children of course the victims of the tragedy in newtown. here to discuss pore presidential priorities are bill press and christine pelosi. obviously there have been a lot of gun events.

those incidents did not prompt action -- at least presidential action like sandy hook has. will sandy hook also prompt action in congress? >> i think so. yes, it will. but first i have to say again, what a powerful statement. the poem that he wrote for this occasion, and i thought he and president obama got together ahead of time and talked about this togetherness, and all of us americans are in this together. and here is a young man, cuban american, openly gay man, that really said something too, plus the power of his words. but to sandy hook this was the slaughter of the innocents. and i think that's what really shocked us and shocked the president. these were little angels. the purest of the pure, and as the president said and i was at

the white house when he announced his proposals. this is our number 1 responsibility as a people is to protect our children, and this is how we will be judged is what he said. and i believe this congress will act, maybe not everything we want them to do but we'll see some action not just talk on gun violence this year. >> jennifer: christine my guess is you would say he is probably going to start in the senate there as well because the house won't put anything up for a vote unless the senate acts. but mr. harry reid ask his vulnerable democrats to take a vote on an assault weapon's ban if they believe it won't pass the house.

>> i know tomorrow we'll be taking up my resolution in support of gun violence prevention that includes taking up the assault weapons bans. so i think that the white house is ready, the senate is ready to act. they are going to i think start with what you may consider to be the low-hanging fruits the background checks, and limit on high capacity magazines and then take a look at senator feinstein's bill. but i think the senate will take this up in regular order, and this will only be successful if as the president has said the american people speak out and speak up. this is the slaughter of innocents. is our role as parents.

they didn't think we could change drunk driving laws, but mothers against drunk drivers did. >> jennifer: and i think this is another reason this was so powerful. one of the other things christine you mentioned that the poet is the first openly gay poet that has ever read at an inauguration. and i want you to listen to a sound bite from president obama speaking about gay americans. take a listen to this. [ applause ] >> obama: our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law, for many we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equality as well. >> jennifer: abc news says this

is the first time a president has used the word gay in an inauguration, and he referred to stonewall, which is in fact the stonewall riots in new york which launched the gay rights movement. i'm wondering -- you know bill were you surprised? >> i was stunned, and so pleasantly shocked by the president's remarks that -- and this is a president who came to this issue slowly himself. i mean he was evolving on this issue, we at the white house press corps kept pushing and pushing, and it took him three and a half years to come to support, but now he is the champion. and to say that so openly and again putting it in the context of the constitution, and making i real for americans today i thought was really bold on his

part, and it got a huge response to the audience today. i think he has established himself as the american leader on gay rights today. >> jennifer: the american leader of all. >> yes. yes. >> jennifer: it says all men, but all people are created equal. he really put some punch into the word all today. christine, finally climate change, the president referenced that in the inauguration today very clearly. the question is what can be done -- where is there common ground i'll say that on issue of energy or climate change with this congress? christine? >> well, as was mentioned this is evolution, this speech is what evolution looks like sounds like in american society.

and the president basically said we're not going to be held back with a few doubters. we're going to go with the consensus here. you say i'll create jobs. well you have to create them in what? how about in clean energy. there is is infrastructure bill that includes money for clean tech jobs. and they agree on this. so if you wanted to take bold swift action on climate change and jobs you could pass a clean tech infrastructure bill this week and put americans back to work. >> jennifer: well, i'm telling you he laid it out in his inaugural address in part one, and part two will be the state of the union, which we'll

hopefully have you guys on to talk about. thank you both so much for joining us on this fantastic day. up next the republicans made it their mission to limit the president's term to one. we'll have that story and more right here on current tv. presidential inauguration plus insight into obama's second term. only on current tv.

>> jennifer: welcome back to "the war room." i'm jennifer granholm in new york. we have been talking about the president's second-term agenda. the question is how obstructionist will republicans

be? let's first revisit november 2010 when mitch mcconnell revealed his own agenda. >> our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny president obama a second term. >> jennifer: that would have been 2010. obviously center mcconnell failed, but has his tune changed now? well, consider the issue that has dominated washington since the 113th congress convened. here is what senator mck.c. connel's campaign manager had to said . . . sounds like the same old song to me. joining me now to discuss the

obstacles is edward-isaac dovere, who's coming to us form dc and joining me here in studio is democratic strategy hank sheinkopf. welcome inside "the war room." let me start with isaac. isaac, what does the president's inaugural address suggest about how he is going to deal with congress in his second term? what did it say to you? >> what we have seen from the president in the weeks and months since he won election is a very aggressive stance in dealing with republicans. the quote that really stuck out to me is we cannot mistake absolutism for principal or treat name calling as reasoned debate. those are words that make clear he is ready for a fight and he is not going to be back away

from it. he seems to be changing his pattern with the way he deals with senate in his second term. he is trying to make clear that he is done with it. i don't know if he is in fact done with it because a lot of things happen between the principals that you lay out in a speech and what you do when it get tos time to govern. so he is going to have a lot of negotiation going on, and some negotiating away from the principals that he has laid out. he said he has changed his position that he said he wouldn't change at all on the tax line. but he seems to be taking a very

different approach. >> jennifer: hank i want to play a sound bite. take a listen. >> obama: our journey is not complete until all of our children from the streets of detroit to the hills of app lay cha to the lanes of newtown know they are cared for and cherished and always safe from harm. >> jennifer: i think he takes his role as a protector and chief very seriously. but he also signaled how he is going to deal with congress. what do you think it really signals about what he is going to be able to get done in congress. >> i'm happy he loves children, but he wants the house back in 2014. >> jennifer: that's a political

statement. >> i can't help it. he vested everybody by giving up a lot, the negotiations are already over because they conceded, and now on guns he is trying to position the republicans way out there so they can look like the victors. >> jennifer: yeah, i don't think he has to try very hard to out position guns. if it has anything involving banning assault weapons or whatever. the republicans are going to oppose it. >> this was over the edge. but no atf directed it. he found the issue that gets him over the line. >> jennifer: you think that it is an issue that can win the

house back? >> i think the general ranker towards the president can make it happen. >> jennifer: i'm wondering about that because the utah senator said his speak was excellent and he said i think one word describes it, togetherness. i was so encouraged by that. do you think the other side of the aisle might be willing to work with the president? >> perhaps but i think they'll wait until they have their coffee tomorrow or not even until then to start fighting again. when people talk about inauguration day, and then they argue about what each side meant. so that's what we're really expecting, and especially when we go into this week when

republicans are going to be pushing for their strategic change, and we see the fight coming about chuck hagel's nomination. those things make it pretty easy. >> jennifer: but it is going to be short-lived, the nice words. john mccain even today said he didn't see enough outreach to republicans. >> this speech was about the people that voted for barack obama. >> jennifer: all right. hang on, because we're going to come back to these two great political guys. coming back we'll take a sneak peak at the secret weapon and here is a hint. it just might be you. the insight and analysis.

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[ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. >> obama: you and i as citizens have the power to set this country's course. you and i as citizens can shape the debates of our time not only with the votes we cast but with the voices we lift in defense of our most enduring ideas. >> jennifer: live it! you and i are citizens. president obama ending his inaugural address calling for action from the american people, everybody who is watching. so the question is how

people -- called obama for america has been relaunched into a grassroots none profit called organizing for action. according to president obama's former campaign manager, this is the mission, and this is what it says . . . >> in fighting for issues like immigration reform, and reducing gun violence. sound familiar? president obama might not have to run for office again, but the legacy of his political depreciation is going to be a political change for years to come. so back for a discussion on how the president is going to

execute the agenda is edward-isaac dovere, white house editor for "politico", and hank sheinkopf. let me ask you hank the president has been criticized for not being a good manager -- but here is managing both the message and the organization in the same day. >> i think the "new york times" on the front page was referring to his ability to manage the government. this is big large acorn -- >> jennifer: it is not acorn. >> oh, come on. it is the same thing. the statement nonsense. what it's what the unions used to be able to do but they have

been shut down. now he is able to do if he puts this together properly exactly what those kinds of organizations used to do. and not a bad model. you put the people in the streets and hit the doors and go organize. >> jennifer: have you seen this before? >> certainly not on this scale. the only thing i can think of is something from my old days covering new york politics and what hank would be familiar with and some of what mayor bloomberg has done. mayor bloomberg has hundreds of millions of dollars to put towards these things but the obama organization will be raising money and will have living in different structures. that said, this is a very

potentially big situation that the president is going forward with here. he could create this as something that is an alternative. an entity unto itself that doesn't have to answer to any of the normal rules that a party committee would when dealing with a president. he has full control over it. and even as the dnc tomorrow is going to do elect debbie wasserman schultz as the chair the president is going to focus on what his agenda is going to be. >> jennifer: hank can he successfully push and an entirely separate organization. because the dnc and the campaign were one. >> i have worked in 44 states. and everybody has been doing this kind of stuff for years

corporations have been doing it, the trial lawyers. now he is going to do the big enchilada in a big way with one goal get the republicans out of the thousands in 2014. >> jennifer: i think that's one of the goals. but i think organizeing for action said i would address four key issues which you heard him address today. which one of those do you think -- because you have been in washington -- which one should they tackle first? >> i don't know which one they should tackle first, but i know the expectation is that president will be waging strong intense fights for three of those issues.

the one i would leave off the list is climate change. we so far do not know if the president is going to do anything more to address environmental concerns. but when it comes to gun immigration reform and the big conversation and changing the way the government is done those are things that the president is going to need a lot of help. we saw last week that his gun control proposals fell on pretty deaf ears last week and we'll be looking for backing to make those a reality. >> jennifer: hank the president seems to kate that going over to congress, the people that he is going to use the bully pulpit more to try to generate that enthusiasm out there. does this indicate that he learned something about that from his first term? >> it means that he is no longer the political amateur, but he

has become quite the professional, and he knows how to hit with an iron glove, and that's what he intends to do. >> jennifer: hey, quickly, we got to run, isaac, but what can you tell us quickly about dennis mcdunam? >> going back to the 2008 campaign, and there is every indication he will be the next chief of staff. we're expecting that as early as this week to be announced. >> jennifer: all right. that is going to be interesting. i'll be curious about the insides of that one. thank you so much for coming inside "the war room." up next, no empty chair today, comedian, dean obediallah breaks down the good the bad, the ugly

from the inauguration. this is "the war room" only on current tv. plus insight into obama's second term. only on current tv.

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>> jennifer: okay. let's head across the country to los angeles to check in with cenk uygur with what is on tap with "the young turks." cenk what kind of rabble rousing to you have planned for this historic day? >> of course we'll analyze the good and bad of the speech. don't worry, jennifer there is no usually in this speech. >> jennifer: i'm so happy to hear that, cenk. i'm glad you are going to be on your best behavior. >> well i don't think about best behavior. and then apparently we are not

alone, dr. cornell west very unhappy with president obama, and his criticism has to do with the president's swearing in on dr. martin luther king's bible and fascinating things going on dc. >> jennifer: it's an amazing day. and you and i will be talking about this further a little bit later on. so thanks, cenk, appreciate it. >> thank you. >> jennifer: you bet. today was certainly a day that progressives of every stripe cenk will not forget. and the uniqueness of the moment was not lost on the president who actually paused as he left the stage. take a look at this. ♪

>> jennifer: a brief moment the president seemed to be just taking it before getting back to the hard work at hand. joining me now is somebody who knows a lot about hard work dean obediallah is a critical comedian. and he is going to be performing in dubai this weekend? >> this saturday -- today here in new york saturday in dubai. >> jennifer: and yesterday two events at the inauguration. >> three events. one at a ball where a lot of military veterans were, and then two other events and jim messina was getting on. >> joy: dude you are milking it.

>> i know. a lot of energy and a lot of happy people. >> joy: when you are performing do you turn around and look at the audience like the president just did. >> i think we should all savor moments in our lives. but was like almost an avita moment. [ laughter ] >> and it was a lot of progressive tones -- >> jennifer: you liked it? >> i did like it. i love cenk but -- >> jennifer: i like cenk too. the president placed his hand on two bibles, and you didn't like that. >> it's all symbolism.

i think they should put their hand on the u.s. constitution or u.s. book of laws and john quincy adams was the only president to do that. i'm somewhat religious, my position is not anti-bible or anti-god. this is the basis of our government and our genesis. and there is nothing more powerful than the president putting his hand on the u.s. constitution. it's our supreme law of the land. >> jennifer: but he is taking an oath to uphold the constitution. >> sure, we all know it's symbolic, but why not -- this is the supreme law of the land religion is part of me but it's not what i'm going to go to. he is not rick sanatorium he is

a religious man. >> jennifer: sure, i get that. you are a performer. i'm curious what you thought about the performance of day, the delivery of this. normally you start a big speech with a couple of jokes. but you don't do that with the inauguration. >> not one president has ever told a joke in their inauguration. they tell jokes at the conventions, campaign trail, state of the union, even debates -- >> jennifer: it's so solemn. >> open a joke with what are all of you people doing my backyard something? [ laughter ] >> but i think president obama is savoring looking back at the crowd, that is human to me. he is a human being like all of us.

>> jennifer: so this was also a -- these inaugural speeches some have been very brief, some very been very long. this was was 18 minutes. was it about the right length? >> i think so. jerry nabb the congressman from new york looks like he is falling asleep over and over. >> jennifer: yeah, we have his youngest daughter -- >> yeah that's like two minutes in. she woke up -- the shortest speech ever, george washington 135 words. you could have tweeted his speech out. i have said more than 135 words since i have been out here. and the longest one was william harry henderson, and the man stayed out in the cold so long, he got pneumonia and died in 30

days. >> jennifer: thank you so much for your perspective on this. >> thank you for having me. >> jennifer: dean obediallah. one comedian is not enough though, brett ehrlich is up next. >> coming up, fun facts about the inauguration and they do solemnly swear to entertain you. don't go away. his ability, is trying to look out for us.

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